My Vote is My Right; Your Vote is Your Right

I have seen a marked air of superiority among citizens who believe that their candidate is the best. We need to remember that voting is a sacred right and privilege, and we need to remember that we are seeking to be The "United" States of America.

The intolerance, hate and division over moral agency is truly sad. Like most others, I do not take my vote lightly, and way more is put into the equation than one mere candidate. Principles, surrounding people, whom I think will have the ability to influence the Country for the most good in the next four years, fighting socialism, defending the family, strengthening the military, defending the Constitution along with The Bill of Rights, and many other factors come into play.

While voting, we should be humbly looking to the Spirit to guide us of course; but, do not think that because your conscience dictates that you vote one way, that others who disagree with you are wrong. This election itself will not be the real test of who is right and who is wrong. It is what we all choose to do afterwards, and between elections, that will determine what type of citizens we really are.

We need to stop looking for our identity in our candidates, sports team, and the like. We are more than that. We are children of God who has given us all the ability to think and reason, and the agency to do so.

Those who think that they are justified in bashing others because they believe that they are following prophetic counsel; please stop accepting newspaper articles, opinion pieces, individual interpretations, of what may or may not have been said, as the final word. They aren’t. Follow the dictates of your own conscience, and allow all other citizens to do the same.

For those who are fellow Latter-day Saints, and for all other individuals of strong faith, the following is what has been said by The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For those who post anything other than their official statement, rest assured that it does not come from the Church, no matter how well-intended you may think it is.

Please note the underlined portion. 

First Presidency 2016 Letter Encouraging Political Participation, Voting in US

The following letter was issued by the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on October 5, 2016, to be read to Church congregations throughout the United States:

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Political Participation, Voting, and the Political Neutrality of the Church

As citizens we have the privilege and duty of electing office holders and influencing public policy. Participation in the political process affects our communities and nation today and in the future. We urge Latter-day Saints to be active citizens by registering, exercising their right to vote, and engaging in civic affairs.

We also urge you to spend the time needed to become informed about the issues and candidates you will be considering. Along with the options available to you through the Internet, debates, and other sources, the Church occasionally posts information about particular moral issues on which it has taken a position at www.MormonNewsroom.org.

Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in various political parties, and members should seek candidates who best embody those principles.

While the Church affirms its institutional neutrality regarding political parties and candidates, individual members should participate in the political process. The Church also affirms its constitutional right of expression on political and social issues.

Sincerely yours,

Thomas S. Monson
Henry B. Eyring
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
The First Presidency

We Need to Break the Apron Strings

It is a sad commentary on the health of our nation when the voice of the people and states' rights have been abolished. No one should feel cause to celebrate just because it seems some agenda that they favor has been served, because it will just as easily serve agenda to which they are opposed. No matter on which side of an issue we stand, we should not celebrate the loss of the voice of American citizens, nor should we favor an all-powerful federal government robbing the states of the rights to which they are entitled.

Yesterday, single-handedly, Judge Vaughn Walker overturned the outcome of Prop 8, which means that he silenced the vote of 7 million people. I don't believe that the constitution was ever meant for private interpretation in such a manner as to support the views of the individul interpreter against the voice of the people or against time tested values.

There are those that would argue that religious commentary has no place in the politics of the United States. Unfortunately, today they may be correct. But at the same time, they are imposing their own religious beliefs on the rest of us. For what is religion, but a set of standards and beliefs to which we adhere? So why should we value the imposition of a set of standards with which we don't agree that is arbitrarily imposed? It seems clear that the voice of the people is needed now more than ever to safeguard the rights and beliefs of the American people as a whole. If we succumb to those who subvert the voters' rights because we think that they have our best interests at heart, we are essentially abdicating our right to vote, which in turn will take away our future freedom to do so. In celebrating the overthrow of the vote of the people and the overthrow of individual states' rights, we are giving up our freedom as people of a republic and telling the politicians and judges of this country that they may make all our decisions for us.

Not so humorously, this is the very reason for which the colonies severed ties with Great Britain. They no longer wanted to be children pestered and guarded by a mother country that served her own needs over and above theirs. And now it looks like we have come full circle and are begging for a monarchy or dictatorship that will tell us all what is the best for us, that will take over our thinking and feedings and provide for our every need. So it would appear that it is high time that we wake up and grow up. It would certainly be a shame if we had to fight for these freedoms all over again.